A Day For Southern On-Campus Campaign Underway

August 23, 2013

A Day For Southern On-Campus Campaign Underway

Georgia Southern University faculty and staff volunteers gathered on Thursday at the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center for the kickoff of the 40th annual on-campus ‘A Day for Southern’ campaign. Director of Annual Giving Alex Grovenstein welcomed the crowd who heard stories from Lainey Brown and Manray Saint-Amour, students who understand the impact of the campaign.

Saint-Amour, a general studies major from Suwanee, Ga., and center for the Eagles football team, touched the crowd with his thankfulness for those who choose to donate to the Eagle Fund, which helped him achieve his goal of getting an education while continuing his passion for playing football.

“I wouldn’t be here without you guys who support the Eagle Fund. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to put the blue and white on every Saturday and work with my brothers on the football field every day in practice,” Saint-Amour said.

And while being an athlete and scholar student is sometimes difficult, Saint-Amour welcomes the challenge.

“Even though it is hard, this is a great opportunity to learn responsibility, accountability, to strengthen your values and learn discipline,” he said. “Because you chose to donate, I can learn discipline and get through those hard days. Every day I am growing and I thank you for that.”

Exercise science major and 1906 Scholarship recipient Laynie Brown also shared how ‘A Day for Southern’ has shaped her educational career. The Bulloch County native said attending Georgia Southern has given her a great education and allowed her to give back to her community by volunteering with the rehabilitation department at East Georgia Regional Medical center.

“Over the past few months, I helped a little girl go from not even crawling to taking her first step. Anyone in that situation would feel like they did something worthwhile, but it is especially meaningful to me because the first nine months of my life I spent in a leg harness, and I received physical therapy at the old Bulloch Memorial hospital,” Brown said.

“And because of the caring staff at Bulloch Memorial, I’m now in a position to help the next generation of Statesboro as I was helped. If I had gone to another university, I would never have been able to have these kinds of experiences and never would’ve been able to help the people in my own community as a college student.”

President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., reminded the crowd that Brown, Saint-Amour and Heidi Ordaz, who provided a musical performance during the event, are three of the many reasons the University’s future is so bright and why
the campaign is so important.

“You’ve just heard two of the most outstanding stories you could possibly want about why what you’re doing every day, and especially today, is so important,” Keel said. “You’re here because you’re volunteering, because you believe in the University and because you believe in what these three students represent and how they’re going to take us to the next level. I’m excited about what ‘A Day for Southern’ represents, and it is going to be a great day, a great campaign because of all the work that you do.”

Since 1998,’ A Day for Southern’ has raised more than one million dollars annually, and last year, 44 departments had 100 percent participation. Faculty and staff are given the opportunity to contribute what they can to support University programs and services not funded by state dollars. Funds raised support scholarships, faculty development, championship athletics and cultural programs such as the Museum, the Wildlife Center, the Garden of the Coastal Plain, the Performing Arts Center and the Symphony.

“A lot of other universities around the country try to emulate ‘A Day for Southern,’ but they don’t have the success we have. One of the highlights of our campaign is that we showcase some of our students each year, because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re all about—students,” Grovenstein said.

Faculty and staff co-chairs America Minc and Stephen Rossi, Ph.D., challenged the group to connect with the campaign, noting donations can be designated to one of the 872 accounts at the University.

“All of our accounts are important, and this campaign is about creating a sustainable future for Georgia Southern. This is about paying it forward,” Minc said. “I’m honored to be an alumna of Georgia Southern and to stand here
today with Stephen and talk about all of this. I’ve benefitted from the campaign—we all benefit from ‘A Day for Southern’ in many different ways. So your challenge is: How are you going to connect with your people to help them find that one account they’re going to give back to and pay it forward?”

Gifts can be designated by visiting GeorgiaSouthern.edu/foundation, clicking on Giving Options and selecting the list of foundation funds for a complete list of accounts. The on-campus campaign ends Aug. 30.